Muslim Veiling

News about Muslim Veiling, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Feb. 26, 2015

Supreme Court hears argument exploring religious sterotypes, employment discrimination and symbolism of Muslim head scarf, issuing from 2008 incident at Abercrombie & Fitch clothing store in Tulsa, Okla; Samantha Elauf was not hired by store because of her scarf, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued on her behalf. MORE

Jan. 30, 2015

White House Memo; First Lady Michelle Obama sparks chatter after she is photographed without any head covering in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Obama's attire was actually in keeping with longstanding custom for first ladies in the Muslim kingdom, and is part of a complex clothing protocol that first ladies must navigate while abroad. MORE

Dec. 12, 2014

Ban on Islamic veils in public is approved by officials in Urumqi, capital of western Chinese region of Xinjiang, formalizing set of rules that city’s police officers have been trying to impose on Muslims. MORE

Oct. 21, 2014

French government says that it will circulate guidelines for cultural institutions on law against wearing full veils in public places after woman at Paris National Opera was asked by attendant to remove covering over her face or leave the audience. MORE

Oct. 21, 2014

Iranian police arrest several men in connection with at least four acid attacks on women that appear related ti efforts to punish women deemed improperly veiled. MORE

Aug. 17, 2014

Young Muslim women are making their own mark on hijab culture by posting pictures and videos of themselves on various social media sites; Instagram page of Haute Hijab, Chicago-based company that sells head scarves and modest clothing, has more than 29,000 followers and is filled with pictures of fashionable women wearing head scarves. MORE

Aug. 8, 2014

Chinese authorities in Xinjiang, in campaign against Islamic separatists, have cast a net over a wide range of Uighur practices, including veils and long beards, seen as dangerous signs of religious extremism; some women are increasingly torn between their strivings toward modernity and professional ambition and their outrage toward official restrictions targeting Uighur way of life. MORE

Jul. 2, 2014

European Court of Human Rights upholds French ban on wearing face-covering veils in public, rejecting arguments that measure violates religious freedoms and bolstering opponents of strict Islamic dress in other parts of Europe. MORE

May. 8, 2014

Tehran Journal; male and female protestors descend on Iran's capital Tehran, demanding that government arrest women who flout country's obligatory Islamic dress code; that protest is allowed to take place despite lack of permit drives home how powerful forces are conspiring to undermine Pres Hassan Rouhani's frequent promises of delivering more personal freedoms. MORE

Nov. 13, 2013

Op-Ed article by Martin Patriquin, Quebec bureau chief for Maclean's magazine, criticizes plan by Quebec's legislature to outlaw government employees from wearing religious attire, saying measure will present further hurdles to province's growing population of Muslim immigrants. MORE

Nov. 1, 2013

Four female lawmakers are welcomed into Turkish Parliament wearing head scarves; for some, acceptance is a sign of nation's maturing democracy but for others, unwelcome break with country's secular traditions. MORE

Oct. 9, 2013

Turkish government lifts ban on head scarves for female workers in state offices, ending longstanding restriction that has polarized Turkish society; change is introduced as part of series of measures aimed at bolstering democratic standards in country, including improved rights for minority Kurds. MORE

Sep. 17, 2013

London judge decides that Muslim woman standing trial on charges of intimidating a witness can attend court wearing her facial veil, but must remove it to give evidence so the jury can better evaluate her claims; ruling, combined with withdrawal of ban on face coverings at Birmingham Metropolitan College suggest that it is becoming increasingly hard for the government to remain quiet about an issue that has already prompted legislation in Continental Europe. MORE

Jul. 29, 2013

Cartoon in Pakistan features female superhero the Burka Avenger, who transforms from being a demure schoolteacher into an action heroine by donning a burqa, or traditional cloak; cartoon has triggered an awkward debate about her costume, centering on whether the character's use of the burqa is subverting a traditional symbol of segregation and oppression of women or reinforcing it. MORE

Mar. 20, 2013

France’s highest court rules that French Muslim woman was unjustly fired in 2008 for wearing head scarf at work in private child-care center in Paris suburb, and that dismissal violated her religious freedom; ruling overturns appeals court decision that center had right to set its own rules about religious neutrality. MORE

Mar. 19, 2013

Muslims in Stavropol region of Russia find themselves at center of emerging debate over religion as regional ban on hijabs, Islamic head covering, face its first court challenge. MORE

Dec. 21, 2012

Supreme Court of Canada rules that witnesses can cover their faces for religious reasons while testifying in court under some circumstances, after Muslim woman asked to wear niqab. MORE

Oct. 19, 2012

Pres Vladimir V Putin speaks out against wearing of head scarves in Russian schools in his first public comment on issue, in support of high school principal in Russia’s southern region who had forbidden girls from Muslim families from wearing head scarves to class, and their parents protested. MORE

Oct. 6, 2012

Police in Baku, Azerbaijan, clash with about 200 Muslim activists protesting ban on the wearing of head scarves in secondary schools. MORE

Sep. 3, 2012

Fatma Nabil is said to be the first anchor to wear a hijab head scarf on Egyptian state television, breaking with a code of secular dress that for decades effectively barred the wearing of Islamic head coverings; appearance sparks debate whether it is one step in an effort by Pres Mohamed Morsi to encourage a more Islamic sensibility in the media and in society as a whole. MORE

Sep. 2, 2012

Defenders and critics in France agree that a law banning full-face veils in public places, passed in April 2011, has had much less of a dramatic impact than anticipated, largely because of tolerance from most Muslims and the police. MORE

Mar. 29, 2012

Istanbul Journal; Ala, a Turkish publication, is an unlikely fusion of conservative Muslim values and high fashion, and has been called the 'Vogue of the veiled;' it unabashedly appeals to the pious head-scarf-wearing working woman, who may covet a Louis Vuitton purse but has no use for the revealing clothing that pervades traditional fashion magazines. MORE

Mar. 4, 2012

Soccer’s international rules board unanimously supports a proposal to reverse a 2007 ban on women from playing in hajibs, or Muslim headscarves, with a final endorsement to come at the board’s meeting in July 2012. MORE

Mar. 3, 2012

International soccer rules board is poised to consider the long-disputed ban on hijabs, headscarves worn by Muslim women that cover the hair, neck and ears; a symbol of piety for Muslims, hijabs have been prohibited during games because officials say it is a safety concern, an issue that has driven female Muslim players away from the sport. MORE

Jul. 16, 2011

Kulsoom Abdullah finishes fifth in United States women's weightlifting championships while wearing full-body unitard, in accordance with her Muslim faith and as approved recently by the International Weightlifting Federation. MORE

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A vigorous argument before the Supreme Court explored religious stereotypes, employment discrimination and the symbolism of the Muslim head scarf, all arising from an encounter at a clothing store in Tulsa, Okla.

December 12, 2014, Friday

One morning, my daughter found a scarf in my purse and declared, “Mama, let me do your scarf so you can look Muslim.” She said this in the same way you might say, “Let me do your hair so you can look beautiful.”